To the Editors:

In the Fall 2002 edition of Chicago WILDERNESS, you reported that state budget cuts could mean "the virtual elimination of the Illinois EcoWatch program." To clarify, EcoWatch did sustain a serious one-year budget cut that forced the cancellation of some training sessions in 2002, however the program has not been eliminated — virtually or otherwise!

While the program is temporarily without the services of its regional personnel, all program staff were retained, as was the vital scientific support EcoWatch receives from the Illinois Natural History Survey. Support for EcoWatch Citizen Scientists is continuing from our Chicago and Springfield offices, and we are doing the best we can to fill the void left by the temporary loss of our regional trainers. Meanwhile, we are using this time to improve our electronic data management capability and to integrate the data collected by professional scientists and our volunteers into a more user-friendly format.

With the completion of fall monitoring, we have begun planning for the 2003 program year. We anticipate offering fewer, more targeted, training sessions, and we will be dependent on the continued dedication and participation of our existing volunteers, now more than ever. People who are interested in learning more about EcoWatch training opportunities in 2003 should call (312) 814-4747.

Marvin Hubbell
Manager, Division of Ecosystems
Office of Realty and Environmental Planning
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

DOGS OR BIRDS?

Dear Editors,

David Cohen's article, "Chicago's Park Revival" (CW, Fall '02), is appropriately praising of the Chicago Park District's new commitment to restoring natural areas throughout the park system. But in one important respect, the park managers have shown a disappointing lack of sensitivity. The Park District has decided to allow unleashed dogs at Montrose Beach, a key key beach for this region's migratory birds.

Shorebirds migrate north great distances each spring, some from the tip of South America to the Arctic Circle. After breeding, they return south from the 4th of July through the end of October. Shorebirds migrate at night and must find a beach where they can feed and rest after their long journey. Montrose Beach, of all the beaches on Chicago's North Side, is uniquely attractive to shorebirds because its horseshoe shape and east-west orientation catches much organic matter that feeds the tiny insects and crustaceans shorebirds need to survive.

Shorebirds need all of Montrose Beach in order to get enough food to continue their migration, and that's why permitting dogs on any part of the beach will have a negative impact. Birds and dogs have a natural prey-predator relationship that cannot be legislated by humans. When a dog nears a shorebird, that bird looks on the dog as it would a fox or a coyote and will fly to escape, using up precious calories it needs for migration and successful breeding.

Dogs and their owners can frolic most anywhere. The Bird Conservation Network (BCN) and others in the conservation community do not oppose the designation of a dog beach area elsewhere, for instance, at nearby Foster Avenue Beach.

The BCN has consulted with state and federal agencies, local ornithologists, major conservation organizations, and a national shorebird data collection center. All have strongly urged that Montrose Beach be kept dog-free. The Lake Michigan Federation and the Chicago Group of the Sierra Club also oppose dogs being permitted on Montrose Beach.

The Park District has ruled that dogs be allowed to run free only in a small, specified area. However, many dog owners ignore the rule as well as the prominently posted signs, and run their dogs not only all along the entire beach, but also in the recently restored Montrose Point area, where the district has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on new plantings. In the absence of adequate enforcement it makes little difference what rules are made, as many dog owners simply ignore them.

The designation of part of Montrose as a dog beach is especially ironic considering that it was just over two years ago that Chicago and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a treaty wherein the city promised to take all possible steps to protect migratory birds.

The BCN and other conservationists are very appreciative of the park board's adoption of the bird-friendly habitat guidelines in its landscaping and the significant financial commitment made to improve habitat throughout the park system. We strongly urge that they extend this sensitivity to the needs of native wildlife and keep dogs off Montrose Beach, and that the rules established be strictly enforced.

Donald R. Dann
Vice-President, Bird Conservation Network
Highland Park, Illinois

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